Hey Kbot, just out of curiosity...do you think the Jesus you worship was a right winger, or a left winger? What do you think he would think about children being needlessly slaughtered so others can enjoy their mass killing weapons?

Another question: If your powers that be raise the age to 21 for buying assault weapons so students become safer, how does this protect concert goers, nightclubers, and any other people that congregate in large numbers at various functions that are not schools? I guess their lives don't count huh? The average age of mass killers is 34 yrs. Yes the left wishes to ban assault weapons and so do a lot of right leaning people and for very good reason; having to risk your life whilst hanging out in large crowds just to please a very low minority of your fellow citizens is insane. Just ain't sensible,

“No One Has Done More Than Trump to Prove White People Are Not Superior”
-Andy Borowitz

I don't think that God is either Left or Right, Republican or Democrat. These are all human constructs. I believe that He would be saddened by the maddening slaughter, but I also think that it is a mischaracterization to label this as just a case of people enjoying their mass killing weapons. Using that logic, a truck ( as we have seen) is a mass killing weapon. It's the person either shooting or driving a truck or van into a crowd of people that is the issue.

I'm not sure how I se the issue of raising age limits as someone pointed out over the weekend that college freshman and sophomores are younger than that and they get raped, so, maybe for them, having a gun for protection makes sense.

I still think that we need to focus on the people involved, not the inanimate object. The examples you cited for concert, nightclubs, etc involved people who were, for all intents and purposes, terrorists. If guns weren't available, what would they use next, bombs made from fertilizer (which we have seen). So, what's next, ban all fertilizers?

I don't think that God is either Left or Right, Republican or Democrat. These are all human constructs. I believe that He would be saddened by the maddening slaughter, but I also think that it is a mischaracterization to label this as just a case of people enjoying their mass killing weapons. Using that logic, a truck ( as we have seen) is a mass killing weapon. It's the person either shooting or driving a truck or van into a crowd of people that is the issue.

I'm not sure how I se the issue of raising age limits as someone pointed out over the weekend that college freshman and sophomores are younger than that and they get raped, so, maybe for them, having a gun for protection makes sense.

I still think that we need to focus on the people involved, not the inanimate object. The examples you cited for concert, nightclubs, etc involved people who were, for all intents and purposes, terrorists. If guns weren't available, what would they use next, bombs made from fertilizer (which we have seen). So, what's next, ban all fertilizers?

I didn't say God I said Jesus. He was human and very liberal IMO.

The car analogy doesn't work for me. You can't out law cars as you need them, but you CAN out law assault weapons as nobody needs them.

Do I have to cite every single event where people have been slaughtered on mass to distinguish between home grown terrorists and foreign terrorists? Most mass shooters are home grown and you know it. Let's not split hairs Kbot just because you can't come up with a logical reason why assault weapons shouldn't be banned. Kudos though, as most here just send me a big fat insult in some fashion or another when they can't answer a post thoughtfully. Thank you.

“No One Has Done More Than Trump to Prove White People Are Not Superior”
-Andy Borowitz

The car analogy doesn't work for me. You can't out law cars as you need them, but you CAN out law assault weapons as nobody needs them.

Do I have to cite every single event where people have been slaughtered on mass to distinguish between home grown terrorists and foreign terrorists? Most mass shooters are home grown and you know it. Let's not split hairs Kbot just because you can't come up with a logical reason why assault weapons shouldn't be banned. Kudos though, as most here just send me a big fat insult in some fashion or another when they can't answer a post thoughtfully. Thank you.

I know what you said RA, but, to me, as with Catholics and Christian generally (doesn't matter whether your're speaking Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestants, etc) Jesus IS God. They're inseparable, and this has been Church doctrine for centures now. Nothing new here.

Jesus, was very liberal. Forgivness is a paramount issue in HIs teachings as well as social concerns. He had little time for ultra-conservatives who were so hung-up on minutiae in the reading of scripture and from what I've read, Christ had a desire to better people.

From what I've read, Christ wasn't a political figure and strove to distance Himself from politics, although He certainly was knowledgeable of the political dynamics at work.

And, as far as whether anyone "needs" a car - that's certainly debatable. Humans have survived millennia without cars (and the pollution they cause), but, always seem to have found "a need" for weapons - whether to provide food or protection, either from wild animals (the four-legged kind) or the two-legged wild animal kind who seem intent on taking your stuff.

I managed to survive for years without owning a car - I walked, took a bus or cab, rode my old ten speed a lot. When I was stationed outside Fort Worth at Carswell AFB, I used to hike it over from Ft Worth to Dallas often on my ten speed. Around here we have mass transit (as do most cities and suburbs), so, a case CAN be made that cars are unnecessary. Whether you want to have one comes with a list of responsibilities. Here in the US, we say that driving a car is a privilege, not a right - you can still walk, ride bike, take a taxi, bus, subway, unicycle, etc., but one does not have an absolute "right" to drive car. You can take classes, pass tests, get a license, purchase insurance, and, provided you don't run foul of the law, you can drive until your license is either taken away from you due to age or infirmity, or you are lucky enough to just dispense with the privilege altogether.

As far as assault weapons, what is an "assault weapon"? Any weapon is, by definition (of common sense at least) an "assault" weapon. The issue then becomes one of degrees - how many can be killed, maimed, injured by THIS weapon as opposed to THAT weapon within a defined timeframe, all other things being equal (distance, time of exposure, etc.).

Using that definition, an unmodified AR-15 is probably just as deadly as a handgun in that only a single round can be fired at one time. Modification to the weapon complicates the issue, such as using clips, bump stocks, etc.

The issue becomes one of balancing American law as written, protecting the rights of those who obey the law and have been, not infringing on their rights, while doing what can be done to prevent those who should not have access to guns from getting their hands on them.

Look RA, as I've said, I'm not a fan of guns - I had my fill when I served in the military, But, we ALL KNOW that criminals don't purchase guns legally, generally speaking. Banning future gun purchases is a major wet dream of the Left. What they fail to, I don't know, comprehend, grasp, account-for, acknowledge or probably even care about, is that, they can, maybe, pass legislation banning legal gun purchases. All that will do is open the floodgates to illegal gun purchases.

Criminals will always find ways to purchase guns or anything else they want. Massachusetts has the strongest gun law in the entire country - that still doesn't prevent illegal purchases or the use of guns in deaths. We have gang problems here in Massachusetts with opioid use skyrocketing. Local law enforcement has their hands full as it is, and addicts will break-in and rob homes in order to support their habit. They'll knock down old women and steal their pocketbooks for drug money and won't bat any eyelash. Drug dealers will fire off rounds on city streets killing people on the streets or in their homes as the bullets fly and there's NOTHING the cops have been able to do to stop any of this. The problem it that the laws (and police)are REACTIVE rather than PROACTIVE.

Personally, I like an armed populace, otherwise, only criminals will have guns and until the government can figure out a way to effectively deal with the criminal element out there and turn then away from life of crime and channel their energies elsewhere, I'll opt for the armed populace.

Even then, there are still al the hunters out there. I'm not a hunter RA. My father-in-law, his father and all of his brothers - the entire family moved here from Canada, btw RA, were hunters and had guns. I wouldn't ask hunters who are acting within the law to give up their gun rights (or fishermen for that matter) just because I disagreed with them.

Now, RA, I know that the far Left wants us all to go vegan and gobble granola and tofu, but, really, they have to get another hobby.

And, look, here's the absolute hypocrisy in the Left's stance on guns. They absolutely freak out over deaths by guns. And, yes, I agree, 100% that its a tragedy and deserves to be stopped dead in its tracks. But these folks on the Left are the very same people who clamor for more unrestricted abortions on demand at the very time when we're seeing abortion rates decline. Guns have been responsible for the deaths of thousands in the period of the passage of Roe v Wade. I that same period of time. And, with unborn children - you CAN'T get more vulnerable or innocent than that. Christ would have said the same thing RA.

The Left really needs to choose their battles better......... Look at the figure given in the last line below and you'll see the absolute hypocrisy of the Left's position on death in this country. They have NO PROBLEM with deaths as long as their people are being well taken care of financially

Snippet:

Abortion, by the numbers, is a racist institution. That's not to say that all or even most of those who support abortion are racists. Nor does it imply that there are not racists among those who oppose abortion. This statement has nothing to do with agendas or intent. It has everything to do with the simple undeniable reality that in the United States, abortion kills black children at roughly three times the rate of non-Hispanic, white children. The Reverend Clenard H. Childress calls this phenomenon "black genocide" and has built a national ministry around its exposure. Alveda C. King, daughter of slain civil-rights leader A.D. King and niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., quotes her uncle often when outlining her opposition of abortion. She writes:

[Martin Luther King, Jr.] once said, “The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of his children for comfort and safety.” How can the “Dream” survive if we murder the children? Every aborted baby is like a slave in the womb of his or her mother. The mother decides his or her fate.1

Lest you feel these claims are an exaggeration, consider the numbers. Among black women, the current abortion ratio is 420.2 That means there are 420 abortions for every 1,000 live births. Statistically, 30% of black pregnancies end in abortion (excluding miscarriages). Among white women, the abortion ratio is 121—which means less than 11% of white pregnancies end in abortion.3 The abortion ratio among Hispanic women is 178, or 15% of pregnancies.4 Even though whites make up 63.7% of America's population,5 white women account for only 37% of its abortions.6

By the latest count, approximately 2,614 human beings lose their lives to abortion each day in the United States.7

2,600-plus people EACH DAY die in the US by abortion. That's each and every DAY - like a factory at work. Back to Christ for a moment RA. How do you think He'd feel about the number of kids we as a society have killed due to abortion? 2,000 kids PER DAY

I hear ya RA - can't stand the granola and tofu. Tried 'em a few times and just don't get it.

I disagree about cars and chaos. They're a convenience without a doubt, but people are also just lazy. It's rare to see people walk anymore - hence the exploding obesity rates (at least here in the US - can't speak for Canada) Don't know how many times I see single riders taking very short trips when they could easily walk. My mother's father came here from what is now Poland (then part of Austria-Hungary), and he walked everywhere everyday, rain or shine. He had a car, but he just liked walking. When I asked him why he said that if he didn't walk he knew that he'd just stiffen-up and it would all be downhill from there. It was not uncommon for people in his immediate family live to be in their 80s and 90s.

And, like I said, mass transit. Sure it has its negatives, but there isn't lot of ridership at times. In the part of the state where I live, people here have bene trying to get rail back in service since it was closed down in the late 1950s and it's been up uphill battle ever since. Most days the highways from Providence (Interstate 95) or SE Mass (Rt 24) are bumper-to-bumper parking lots and it now takes more than two hours to travels the same distance now compared to the 1970s when the same distance was covered in slightly less than an hour - so basically we just have millions of cars, trucks an buses idling - if MKII is ever up this way, I am sure he can attest to New England traffic nightmares.

I'm glad to hear that, presumably, the Canadian government has some legal allowance for gun ownership. I would think that Ottawa doesn't attempt to punish legal hunters/ gun owners when cracking down on gun violence in Canada.

As far as my Catholic beliefs and faith - I've never claimed to be perfect and truly recognize that I am not, and will have a lot to answer for in the hereafter. Anyone who believes that they are somehow "saved" and that's all there is not it (my view) are in for a surprise. I still adhere to the Purgatory view and never assume that my place in the hereafter is a given.

As far as my Catholic beliefs and faith - I've never claimed to be perfect and truly recognize that I am not, and will have a lot to answer for in the hereafter. Anyone who believes that they are somehow "saved" and that's all there is not it (my view) are in for a surprise. I still adhere to the Purgatory view and never assume that my place in the hereafter is a given.

“No One Has Done More Than Trump to Prove White People Are Not Superior”
-Andy Borowitz

As far as my Catholic beliefs and faith - I've never claimed to be perfect and truly recognize that I am not, and will have a lot to answer for in the hereafter. Anyone who believes that they are somehow "saved" and that's all there is not it (my view) are in for a surprise. I still adhere to the Purgatory view and never assume that my place in the hereafter is a given.

Well said Kbot, That's pretty much all we have, for those not infected, regardless of what Religion or lack of. The simplicity of knowing the struggle to do the right thing is a test in it's self.

Teens Face ‘Corporal Punishment’ in Rural Arkansas for Participating in Student Walkout
Three students in a rural part of Arkansas will allegedly be smacked for participating in Wednesday’s national walkout protesting against gun violence.

Despite that drastic punishment, one student’s mother, Jerusalem J. Greer, applauded her son and the other students at Greenbrier Public School for their defiant protest following the deadly shooting that killed 15 students and two adults at Stoneman Douglas High School last month in Parkland, Florida.

“My kid and two other students walked out of their rural, very conservative, public school for 17 minutes today,” Greer wrote on Twitter. “They were given two punishment options. They chose corporal punishment. This generation is not playing around.”https://www.thedailybeast.com/teens-fac ... t?ref=home

Hillbillies clinging to their guns and religion.

“No One Has Done More Than Trump to Prove White People Are Not Superior”
-Andy Borowitz